knowing some have reported some little bugs with DS14 Firmware ( with some DVD rips and CDS200 copy and perhaps ability to stay in DMA mode with time ) whereas they had no problems with ancient Firmwares , i think now ( yes i have changed my mind
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) that DS14 Firmware added few bugs ( programming errors ? ) . It could be that DS18 goes back to normal correcting bugs created by DS14 Firmware . It's only a personal opinion . But the fact DS14 and DS18 Firmware have nearly the same name makes me believe it .
The new flash utility is better it is a fact .